Hey Charcoal Feathers!
by Mionsohma
Summary: A blonde haired boy falls head first toward the earth and the story begins. (NO CHARACTER DEATH! That's not what that means! hes not really dead!)
1. Cocoon Dream

Cocoon Dream

Caw! Caw!

"Where am I," a boy with golden hair said opening his eyes to reveal emerald green orbs as he fell through the air.

Despite his situation, he was calm and his face was oddly serene. He was young and couldn't have been any older than 15 but the most noticeable thing about his was his oddly shaped head.

Caw! Caw!

A crow was racing with him in his downward decent. Occasionally the bird would tug on the sleeve of his plaid shirt or jean pants leg. It appears the bird was trying to stop the boy from falling.

The boy reached out and cradled the bird to his chest gently. "It feels like…I'm falling from the sky." The crow looked at the boy with concern in its shiny marble like black eyes. "It's weird. I…should be afraid but… I'm not."

Caw! Caw!

"You worried about me lil'guy?" the boy asked the staring crow. The boy then looked around him. Even thought he was falling the world around him had not changed and all he could see was dark shapeless grey. "Where am I? What is this? Everything here feels so cozy and warm but I feel a little nervous. I'm not scared but my chest feels cold."

The crow flew out of the boys' arms and tried in vain once again to stop his decent. "It's okay. I know you can't but thank you for trying," the boy said kindly as a large gust of wind blew the crow away and the speed of his decent increased.

Suddenly he could see more than just the grey of the sky. He looked below him and saw a small city surrounded by a high wall. The wind whipped around his blonde hair and stung his eyes. The fear that had been absent moments before came and attacked the boys' heart as he realized the dangerous situation he was in.

_**And so the story begins…**_

AN: Hello everybody out there in internet land! I've always wanted to do that :3! Anyway for those of you who have read the other fanfiction I'm working on you probably know a little bit more about this fanfiction than those who haven't. This is a Hey Arnold adaptation of the 2002 anime Haibane Renmei. I won't tarnish the marvelous plot line already set up by Yoshitoshi Abe by changing the story except to fit the HA characters personalities. There will be only one OC because I can't think of an HA character that will fit Nemu. Warning THIS IS NOT A ROMANCTIC PAIRING FIC! That being said there will however be chemistry between the characters. I hope you like this little retelling of mine and I'll be updating in two days of so. Now one more order of business: REVIEW! The more reviews I get the more incentive I have to update and the longer the chapter will be! It's up to you people!


	2. Old PS118

A/N: Hi~~~ I know it's been more than two days but I had to write my main project before I could work on this. Before I start I would like to thank my first follower EllieRose618. You rock! This chapters for you deary XD

Disclaimer: I can't take credit for either of these wonderful shows but thanks for thinking I might have had something to do with its creation!

Old P.S.118

_**In a field a couple of miles outside of town there is an old school building. The building used to house the many students and classes from the city of Hillwood nearby. As the years went on, the city progress and technology advanced the ten mile walk from the city to the countryside became too tedious. So the city built a new school within the city and P.S.118 began to wither away. **_

_**At least it would have if it hadn't fallen into the waiting hands of the Charcoal Feathers….**_

In an empty hallway filled with abandoned things and debris walked a moody blonde girl carrying a large box. The only thing she had to light her way was a dim flashlight and the glow from her halo that floated spinning over her head.

"Why do I gotta do all the cleaning in this dump?" she grumbled to herself angrily, "Just because I don't have a real job like Phoebe or May I got to work my wings off cleaning this dump!" she got to a door and dropped the box of junk on the ground and pulled a lighter and cigarette out of the pocket of her dusty white jacket. "Crimeny that junk is heavy!" she took a drag and as an afterthought rolled her shoulder and stretched her tiny charcoal grey wings. "I really gotta talk to Robert, or 'Mr. Simmons' as he likes to call himself, about getting some real better flashlights."

Placing the lighter back in her pocket she opened the door. Inside the room was more dust and debris but what caught the girls attention was the enormous milky white cocoon in the middle of the floor.

It had grown so large it had taken up almost the entire wall. It seemed to glow with a bluish light and huge white veins crisscrossed the outside of the bulbous cocoon.

"OH CRUD!" The girl yelled slamming the door shut, her heart pounding out of her chest. After pulse rate went down a little bit she opened the door again to see that the cocoon was still there, "Crimeny it really is a cocoon!" the cigarette fell out of her mouth as her jaw dropped. "I gotta tell someone! I gotta get Robert!" she ran down the hallway back the way she came.

She was halfway down the hallway before she turned around and ran back toward the room. She stood panting in front of the doorway and gaped at the cocoon. Then she remembered why she ran back there and stomped her still lit cigarette out. "Crimeny this is gonna be big! Hug even!"

~O~- ~O~-~O~-~O~

"Hurry Gerald!" Phoebe shouted excitedly. "I want to get back soon so I can examine the cocoon!" Her wigs flapped erratically at the prospect of new knowledge.

"Calm down woman!" Gerald huffed peddling as fast as he could on his little bike, "It'll still be there when we get there. So chill!" _It's bad enough I gotta peddle a bike carrying you and doing all the work_, he though aggravated, _I really don't need you yelling in my ear like you're crazy! _

"I'm sorry Gerald. I'm just really excited," she said happily.

Her apology soothed his nerves and he began peddling harder much to her delight.

Soon the old school building was in sight and Phoebe jumped off the bike in favor of running into the building, her light blue skirt fluttering behind her. She was at the top of the stairs her, face bright as the sun reflected off her glasses made her long black hair shine, "Come on Gerald!" she yelled in her mousy voice.

"Alright alright, I'm coming!" he grinned getting off his bike. He wiped his sweaty palms on his red jersey and black jeans and raced up the steps to meet phoebe.

They entered the building together and turned their name tags around to show that they were back.

PHOEBE- IN, GERALD-IN, LILA-IN, HELGA-IN, MAY-OUT

"It seems May is still at the library," Phoebe commented as they walked down the hallway to the cafeteria.

"Knowing her she's probably sleep," Gerald snickered with his hands in his pocket.

"I hope she makes it back soon," Phoebe said worriedly.

"She'll be fine Phoebe," he sighed, "and even if she does come back late she still she still has her halo." He reached up and tapped her floating halo. It moved back and forth for a bit before finding its center and spinning once more.

Phoebe giggled and a blush rose to her cheeks, "Well I guess-,"

"PHEEBS!" a voice yelled as the passed the main hall way.

"Oh, hello Helga," the petite Asian said to the panting blonde girl, "What's wrong?"

"I need your help! The stupid kids won't leave the hallway where the cocoon is," she growled her blue eyes narrowing, "I swear one day I'm gonna-,"

"Calm down Helga," Gerald grinned, "Why don't you get Mr. Simmons to talk to them."

"Oh please Geraldo," Helga huffed flipping her long blonde hair, "You know damn well Robert cant wrangle those munchkins for shi-,"

"Helga!" Phoebe squeaked.

"What you know it's true!" she smirked. "He'll just end up giving them one of his 'special talks' and that's another thing we got- Wait what am I doing I need to get back to the cocoon! You two come with me. You can distract the brats!" Helga grabbed Phoebe's wrist and raced back down the hallway she came from.

"Helga," phoebe huffed trying to keep up with the leggy blonde, "Can we slow down? And what about Gerald?"

"We can't slow down Pheebs," Helga huffed running up a flight of stairs, "I wanna be there when it opens! I don't want the person to be alone when hatches!"

Phoebe smiled at her friend's enthusiasm and increased her speed.

It wasn't long before they reached the hallway where the cocoon was and it was packed with little kids with charcoal grey wings.

"Move it shorty! One side bucko!" Helga yelled pushing the kids out of her way, "I'm walking here! Hey! Step on my foot again I'll knock you into next week with Ole Betsey!" She pushed her way to the closed cocoon door and turned to scowl at the little kids. "You better leave or I'll pound you!"

"Why do you have to be so mean all the time Hel-ga?" a younger chubby boy in a blue shirt asked in a taunting manner. "We wanna see the cocoon too."

"To bad pink boy. This is only for big Charcoal Feathers." she smirked, "And as fat as you are you're not big enough yet Harold."

"That's mighty mean Helga," a skinny boy in a green shirt drawled, "We just wanna see one on a counta we've never seen a cocoon before."

"That's too bad Stinko 'cause you're not gonna see one today." Helga shouted as the kids started yelling at her.

"Helga isn't Mr. Simmons making his 'special' pudding for snack?" Phoebe said loudly as all the kids looked her way.

"He sure is Pheebs," Helga replied catching on quick to what her friend was doing, "to celebrate the new cocoon and everything. What flavor did he say he was making again?"

"I do believe he said he was making two flavors," she smiled, "lemon and chocolate if I remember correctly."

"LEMON PUDDING!?" the boy in the green shirt yelled before taking off down the hallway to get a cup of lemon dessert that did not exist. The other kids raced off after him eager and soon will find disappointment as well.

"Thanks Pheebs," Helga said opening the door, "Don't know what I would do without ya."

"No problem Helga!" Phoebe chirped following her friend into the dimly lit room.

It was the same as it was this morning except the roots seemed to have spread some and it looked a tad bigger. A red headed girl with twintails stared up at the cocoon in awe.

"It's ever so beautiful!" she sighed with a slight country accent.

"I heard you the last twenty times you said it Lila," Helga snorted, "You get the stuff I told you to get?"

"Oh yes," she said happily and gestured to the wall, "I got all the cleaning supplies you wanted Helga."

"Can somebody tell me why all the kids are running down the hallway like bats out of hel- Whoa," Gerald said stepping into the room, "Glad I got off of work early for this!"

"It's so intriguing!" Phoebe squeaked looking closely at the giant cocoon, "To think it started out only as big as a dandelion puff! I wish I had been able to document the growth rate day by day." Her wings flapped happily as she daydreamed for the scientific discoveries she could have made. "From now on we should make the effort to check around the school to make sure that the cocoons don't hatch by themselves.

"The outside is turning charcoal grey. It's probably gonna hatch soon," said a feminine voice from the doorway.

"May! I was worried you wouldn't get back before dark," Phoebe turned to the brown skinned curly haired girl.

"Well I got tired on the walk back so I stopped and read a book," May smiled tiredly.

"Well it's a good thing you're back," Helga grinned impishly, "We need as many hands as we can get to clean this place up. I'd feel bad for the yutz born in this trash heap."

"Boy howdy its looks like a huge monster egg!" a voice said from the hallway.

"I recon you're right Sid," the little boy from earlier drawled.

"WHAT DID I SAY!?" Helga yelled charging the two small boys in the hall, "That's it wimps, it's time for a beat down from Ole Betsy and the Five Avengers!"

"Run Stinky!" the little boy in a green hat and white cowboy boots yelled as they both ran from the blonde terror.

"Next time you come back I'll pound ya, you paste for brains!" She yelled down the hall while shaking her fist.

"She been acting crazy like this all day?" May asked Phoebe.

"Oh you know Helga," Phoebe chirped, "she's just excited. It's not every day a Feather is born."

"I'm ever so excited as well!" Lila said happily clasping her hands together, "It'll be like getting a new sibling."

"I can barely stand the 'siblings' we have," Gerald snickered. "Anyway let's get started on this room before Helga gives us the old one, two."

_**Inside the cocoon…**_

_What is this? Another dream…_

A/N: So there ya have it the official start to the story! I just recently decided to have the entire P.S.118 kids in the story. But the main five(Lila, Phoebe, Gerald, Helga, ? mystery kid in cocoon) and May( which is me by the way. Yay me!) are like 17 and the rest of the gang like 10. Mr. Simmons isn't a Charcoal Feather but he volunteers there to help teach the younger kids. They have wings but they're too small to fly with and halos. Like I said in summery NOT DEAD! THEY ARE NOT DEAD. ! I just wanted to reiterate that so I don't get and crazy reviews or pms about dead characters. One last time for the challenged THEY NO DEAD! Alright now I'll update in a couple of days. If you have any questions regarding things that have happened so far leave a review and I'll answer them at the beginning of the next chapter.

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	3. Hatching

AN: Hiiiiiiiiii~ Okay I know it's been longer than a couple of days but my main project has been speeding up lately and I've been on fire OwO! My Beta Kade, for my main project, has been really pushing for those 15-20 some odd page chapters and I can't disappoint Kade! But I can't disappoint you all either, so I'm taking a mental health day and working on my fan fictions. Hope you guys enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I don't own it but I'm working hard with everyone on Facebook to get The Jungle Movie and The Pataki's made. SAVE THE JUNGLE MOVIE! FIGHT FOR WHATS RIGHT!

Hatching

_Is this…another dream?_ A blonde haired boy thought as he opened his eyes_. Where am I?_ He thought as he moved his arm and was meet with mild resistance. _Wha…?_ And that's when he realized he was under water.

He thrashed for a minute before he realized he could breathe. He kicked his legs a little and touched the soft milky surface in front of him. _What is this gunk?_ He thought scooping some of it away_. I can hear voices…_

"I just got of work, can't we clean this stuff later?" he heard a voice say distantly.

"Quit your complaining Geraldo." Another voice said as the boy knocked on the foggy surface under the gunk. _There must be people out there_, the boy thought curiously.

_**~~~~~~Outside the Cocoon~~~~~~**_

"Good it's all clean now!" Phoebe said happily as she wiped the lenses of her glasses.

"I'm tired~," Gerald yawned leaning on a mop handle.

"Gather around chuckle heads," Helga said pulling a bunch of tooth picks from her pocket. "Let's draw lots to see who gets the first watch."

"That's an ever so great idea Helga," Lila said sweetly as Helga rolled her eyes at the happy red head.

"Man this is stupid." Gerald said putting his mop against the wall before leaning on the cocoon. "Why don't we just crack this thing open with a hammer and call it a day?"

"Because paste for brains, the Charcoal Feather is supposed to hatch by itself. Doi!" Helga scowled.

"Plus it's against tradition," May said, "If the Feather doesn't break itself out it'll got up to be weak."

"So you're tellen me we're the equivalent to baby chicks?" Gerald deadpanned with heavy lidded eyes.

"If that's how you wanna look at sure." May replied with a yawn.

"I'm oh so sorry to interrupt but the cocoon is making ever so strange noises." Lila said with her ear pressed against the cocoon.

"What? Let me hear that!" Helga said pressing her own ear against the cocoon and hearing the sound of moving water. "Crimeny she right!"

They all heard a cracking sound and saw a small crack appear on the cocoon. Helga and Lila backed up and all the others gathered around and stared at the crack as it grew. It grew larger began releasing water.

"What the-," Helga scowled as the cocoon cracked completely opened and water flooded out.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

The blonde boy woke up on his stomach in a warm bed with white sheets. When he opened his green eyes the world was blurry. "More clouds?" he said softly, "Must still be in that strange dream." He turned his head and squeezed the pillow beside his head. He paused for a moment and then squeezed again. "What?"

The boy sat up and found he was no longer in the shirt and jeans from his dreams but instead was in a white gown. He looked around and saw a table and chairs a little ways away and long windows lined the walls.

"Where am I?" the boy said to himself. He fingered the sleeve of his long before lifting it to his nose and smelling it. _Hmm. Is that vanilla?_

A sharp pain struck him in his shoulder blade and he winced. _What was that?_ He thought just as the door at the front of the room opened and a girl and a bunch of other kids walked in. _Who are they? _

"Good you're awake." A blonde haired girl with blue eyes said carrying a couple of plastic bags in the room. "We had to get some stuff for ya."

"You've been asleep for ever so long!" a red headed girl with green eyes said kindly.

"Lila it's only been three days." A girl with long black hair and glasses said. "However I concur that it has been a substantial amount of time between his hatching and his awakening."

"Easy Pheebs he's new. Speak simple for a while." The blonde girl smirked.

"Gotcha Helga. Simplifying!" the girl replied with a smile. "I should have stayed here so someone would be with him when he woke up."

"Well you wanted to be the Halo Bearer." A boy with brown skin and tall hair said.

"It's oh so wonderful to have a new Feather!" the red head said happily and then turned to him. "Do you need anything?"

"Oh yeah. You feel comfortable buddy." The boy asked.

"He looks a little cold. We should get him a blanket." The girl with glasses said.

"Maybe he wants some more pillows." The red headed girl suggested.

"I don't know he's probably sick of being in that dress." The boy said. "I got you some cool threads. You want to change?"

"No he's probably hungry maybe we should-," the girl with glasses said.

"WILL YOU PASTE FOR BRAINS SHUT THE HELL UP!?" the blonde girl yelled loudly with a scowl on her face. "You're smothering him! How would feel if you just woke up and a bunch of stranger start asking you questions!? Pipe down and give the kid some space!" as she spoke she dragged a chair from the table over to the bed and sat next to the boy. "One at a time or you'll have a mouth full Avengers."

She turned to the boy who flinched slightly and she smiled. "Sorry about them. They're just excited." The boy smiled back hesitantly. _She's kind of scary but she seems_ _nice._ "My name is Helga and you're in my room but you can stay here for as long as you want."

"Whoa Helga G. Pataki being nice!? Hell must have frozen over." The brown skinned boy snickered.

"Keep talken Hair Boy and you'll find out real soon," she growled. The boy held up his hands in surrender and she huffed before turning back the blonde boy who was watching the exchange with interest. "Alright kid let me start from the beginning." She said pulling a white box out of her jacket pocket. "Don't mind if I smoke do ya?" the boy shook his head. "Course you don't it's my room after all!"

As she lit her cigarette the boy gazed around the room at all the kids. The girl with glasses was standing close to the brown boy in the red jersey who was grinning at him which caused him to smile weakly back. There was a girl with brown skin and really curly hair sitting in a chair at the end of the bed who gazed at him with tired dark brown eyes. The red headed girl with bright green eyes beamed at him happily while she sat at the end of his bed.

"Okay kid listen up I got two questions for you and they need answering." The blonde girl said with a puff of smoke. "First, what did you dream about in the cocoon?"

"My dream?" the boy asked hesitantly.

"Yep. Your dream. You had one didn't you? While you were in the cocoon?"

"Uh." The boy said softly looking down at his hands.

Suddenly the girl reached out and touched his shoulder. He looked up to see concern in her deep blue eye. "Hey, I'm sorry. Was it scary or something?"

The boy blushed and shook his wide head. "Uh no… it's okay I was just… trying to remember." He said as she nodded. "Um. I remember falling down from somewhere really high up."

"Oh that's ever so similar to my dream!" the red headed girl said cheerily.

"Pipe down Lila and let the boy finish!" the girl snapped as the red head grinned at her sheepishly. "Alright was there anything else you remember?"

The blonde boy thought for a moment. "I think I might have saw something… but I don't remember…" he said drifting off as his mind filled with visions of clouds and rushing air.

The blonde girl nodded and then spoke again. "Alright now real quick what's the first name that come into your mine when you think 'me'."

_Me? Who I am?_ The boy thought and the name came to him like a ball of light. "Arnold. Arnold Shortman." He replied with a wide grin.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

AN: Alright there you have it the mystery boy is Arnold! (Like you didn't know * rolls eyes at self*) Okay in the anime the Charcoal feather is supposed to be named after their dream but~~~ Rakka is not a boyish name and if I named them after their dream then it would defeat the purpose of a fan fiction.

Helga will be her usual snarky self but since she has no past memories with Arnold (i.e rain, umbrella, "I like your bow because it's pink like your pants.")there's no tension. HOWEVER she does love Arnold but not like that- yet. NOT A PAIRING FIC!

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It'll make my day and yours too!


	4. Wings

AN: Hiiiiiii~ What's up everybody!? This story seems to have gotten a lot of hype! (And by a lot I mean I got three new followers! Thank You littlerosa, mizreader and BettyAwesome715 for finding this story worth wild. Also thank you to my first follower Ellierose618 for being the first to believe in me!) So I originally wasn't going to update until Sunday because I have this trip to DC tomorrow( Like you guys care about my personal life XP) but I was like forget sleep! Sleep is for the weak minded and weak willed! Thus presenting you this update! In my second update I said any questions you have I'll answer them as long as they don't give away the story and reviewer Anjyu(Also check out her story Skeletons. Its wicked!) asked a question so here's your answer reviewer:

1) The gang are all 'human' in the respective that they eat, sleep, bathe, yada yada. The wings they have are not used to fly and the halos…well I'll save that for my epilogue. 2) Charcoal grey is very light grey but not quiet white. I hope that answered your questions :D

Disclaimer: I don't own it. None of it. Not a inch nor a mile do I own for I am broke! Seriously a penny looks at me and laughs! Stupid penny…I could have money…I choose to be broke…it's a life style…like thigh high socks. Which I do own a pair of! *someone throws a brick at the ranting girl* okay imma shut up now. ENJOY! Oh yeah don't forget to join the Save The Jungle Movie group on Facebook! We're almost there guys! FIGHT FOR WHATS RIGHT!

Wings

"Cool your names Arnold Shortman!" Helga grinned and he looked confused for a moment.

"Wait…my name is Arnold?" the boy asked for a moment, suddenly unsure of his outburst.

"Well sure. You can change it if you want. It is your name bucko." Helga shrugged putting out her cigarette out in the ashtray on the bedside table.

"But my name is…" the boy began and his mind blanked. He couldn't remember; he couldn't remember anything before waking up in this room other than that strange dream. "I don't… remember."

"Well that's how it is. There is nobody in this room that knows who you were before you appeared in that room." Helga said solemnly. "Yourself included. So if you say your name is Arnold then who are we to say otherwise?" she turned to the girl with glasses who was holding a circular iron like thing with a hole in the middle. "Pheebs do your Halo Bearing thing so we can move on with the explanations."

"Okay Helga!" the girl chirped stepping forward. "Hi my name is Phoebe by the way." She opened the iron and inside was a glowing halo; just like the ones floating above the. Phoebe picked it up with a pair of tongs. "New feather Arnold," she began in her petite voice, "To help guide your future as a fellow Charcoal Feather, I bestow upon you this halo." When she finished she put the glowing halo over Arnold's head.

He watched with wide green eyes as the halo floated over his head wobbling slightly as it tried to gain its bearings over its new home over Arnolds head. "A Charcoal Feather?" he asked reaching up to try and touch the floating ring as it began to teeter over his oblong head.

"Be careful!" Phoebe said as the ring tried to spin but continued to fail. "It's still hot."

"Uh…Oh no!" Arnold said moving his head as he tried miserable to keep the halo afloat over his head but it fell off his head, bounced off the bed and rolled on the floor.

"Crimeny I thought for sure it would stay over his football head!" Helga said slapping her palm on her forehead as Arnold blushed with embarrassment. Helga saw Arnolds discomfort and blushed herself before patting his shoulder. "Hey don't take the 'football head' comment to heart. Think of it as uh a term of endearment and all the crap." She smiled sheepishly at Arnold and after a moment he smiled back.

"Oh so when you call us paste for brains and chuckleheads and buckos those are really pet names?" Gerald smirked and Helga glared daggers at him.

"No Geraldo. Those are insults." Helga snapped.

"How come Arnold gets a 'term of endearment' and all we get are some insults?" Gerald leered.

"My knuckles itch. How about I scratch them with your face?" Helga scowled and Gerald chuckled under his breath as Phoebe elbowed him. She looked back at Arnold who was watching the exchange between the two with great interest. "Anyway we need to find a way to keep that halo on your head."

"We could always do that whole halo holder thing," May yawned getting up from the end of the bed. "I can go get some tape and stuff from my room."

"Oh no you don't!" Helga growled as May sat back down and ran her hand through her curly hair. "If I let** you** go we won't see you for hours! I have plenty of tape and junk in here."

"Yeah whatever." May sighed, collecting small things and a headband. She tapped the halo with a finger before picking it up and setting all the things on the table. After a few moments she turned around with the halo in a weird holder connected to the headband. She moved next to Arnold and put the headband on him. "That'll work."

"Uh I don't like it." Arnold said as his hair started sticking up at odd angles reaching for the halo.

"None of us liked it bucko." Helga smirked tapping her own halo which moved back and forth before finding its center again. "Get used to it."

"Don't worry Arnold. It'll stick in a few days." Phoebe said reassuringly as a loud bell rang.

"I'm ever so sure that's the noon bell." The red head called Lila said. "I have to get back to the nursing home!" she jumped off the bed and smiled brightly at Arnold. "It's been oh so wonderful meeting you Arnold!" and left the room with a bouncy strut.

Helga sighed and shook her head as Gerald looked out the window. "Man I gotta get back to the clock tower."

"Hurry along Quaismoto. No body's stoppin' ya." Helga snickered as Gerald turned and glared at her before walking to Arnold's side.

"It's good meeting ya Arnold. It'll be nice to have another dude my age that's not Helga." The boy pounded Arnold's fist and wiggled his thumb. Arnold followed suit and smiled. "See ya later. Oh and by the way my names Gerald." Gerald waved goodbye as he left. _I think I'm gonna like that guy_, Arnold thought as he waved back.

"I'm afraid we haven't been able to give you much of introduction but I'm sure you'll be able to meet everybody later. If you don't see us tonight we'll all talk tomorrow after your wings have grown." Phoebe smiled. "I have to head back to my job at the bakery. Welcome to Old P.S.118!" she waved to Helga and Arnold before leaving the room.

Soft snoring sounded from the end of the bed. Helga and Arnold looked to see May sleeping soundly, her wings flapping every so often.

"For craps sake!" Helga mutter getting up from her chair and shaking May awake. "May! Wake up! Don't you have a job to get to!?"

"Oh…yeah the library…" May said as she stood up and stretched. "See you around Arnold and Helga."

Once May left Helga turned to Arnold and the scowl on her face softened. "Finally a little quiet! Alright football head I'm gonna explain everything to ya so open your ears and listen." Helga paused for a moment lost in thought and looked back at Arnold. "Now that i think about it i don't really know where to start. So what do you wanna know?"

"Well uh can you tell me where I am?" Arnold asked quietly. "Oh and what's a Charcoal Feather?" Helga grinned and turned slightly so Arnold could see her back. His eyes widened as her wings flapped a couple of times before becoming still once more. "Whoa are those real!?" he asked in amazement at the light grey wings.

"That's right! And pretty soon you'll grow a pair too." She said in a pride filled voice. "Does your back hurt?"

"Kinda but I thought it was just from sleeping funny." Arnold replied as Helga grimaced slightly.

"I was afraid of that. Turn around and let me see." She ordered as Arnold obliged and she untied the back of his gown. In between his shoulder blades were two large sores. "I'll go get some ice." Helga said softly as Arnold turned to see her looking at him with a pitying expression. "Stay here. I'm gonna go get a rag for you to bite on and some pain killers."

Helga walked to the small kitchenette and filled a bowl with ice and grabbed some plastic bag, a brush and a rag for Arnold to bite on.

When she walked back to the bed she noticed that Arnold was hunched over in pain clutching his back. "Shoot shoot shoot!" she said filling the bags with ice and pressing them against the blistering lumps on Arnolds back. "The wings are coming in faster than I expected. I wanted to get the medicine in you before the fever broke out but it's too late for that now." She nudged him to flip over on his stomach and he gripped the sheets tightly. "Does it hurt?" she asked softly.

"Its…not like its… a really…painful feeling…" he panted as Helga pressed the bag of ice on the pushing sensation behind his shoulder blade. "It feels… like something is… pushing out of my back… like I'm gonna get a cramp."

"I know how you feel. It'll hurt a little when the wing tips break the skin and the fever will get bad but I promise it'll be gone by tomorrow and I won't leave your side until then." Helga said as Arnold squinted at her with pain filled eyes.

"Promise?" he asked as the pushing feeling worsened.

"Promise." Helga replied putting her hand over his clinched fist.

She pulled her hand back and reached into her pocket pulled out a pink elastic. "We're not human are we?" Arnold panted as he watched Helga put her hair into a ponytail.

Helga's eyes darkened a she spoke. "Nobody really knows what we are or if we're human or not. We call ourselves the Haibane or Charcoal Feathers because of the wings on our backs."

"I want to go home." Arnold said in a small voice as Helga gave him a look filled with sympathy.

"We Charcoal Feathers can't leave town. It's a law older than I am; hell older than this building that we can never leave. And even if we could leave, we have no memories so we couldn't find our homes even if we wanted to and your family wouldn't recognize you if they saw you now." Helga said in an emotionless voice.

"Why not?" Arnold asked his vision becoming haze with the pain in his back.

"Just like you can't remember the world you came from before this, nobody in this world can remember you. This is the world that we Charcoal Feathers live in; the world you live in now as well."

"But why am I here?" Arnold asked starting to panic. "Why me? I'm just an ordinary boy; or at least I think I was. I don't know." He rambled. "I'm sure I was nothing special. Maybe my head is a little different but I'm sure I was a normal boy so why me?"

"We've all been asking why." Helga sighed. "But it's hard to get any answers when no one can remember anything." The pain in Arnold's back mounted and he began to yell. "It's starting." She said getting the rag and putting it between his teeth as a wing tip pierced through one of the lumps.

"IT HURTS!" Arnold shouted in pain as Helga ran to the kitchen to get the medicine box. "IT HURTS!"

"I gotcha Arnold!" Helga said running back into the room in time to see a bloody mass pushing out of Arnold shoulder blades.

"AhhHHHHHH" he screamed as the masses pushed out and spattered Helga with blood. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed arching his back as the most painful stabbing pain feel filled his shoulder blades.

The last thing he heard was Helga whispering. "Even if nobody else knows you, I will always be by your side."

AN: There it is everybody Arnold gets his wings. If it had to be described I would say it's like child birth in your back-with no epidural. I know some lady's out there reading this with a cringe on her face going "Poor Arnold!" if you want to see what it would look like here's a video watch?v=KNoKZ_bN2lw warning the scene is graphic and should not be seen while eating. So um yeah. Oh! I'll try and update on Sunday and it will be a little on the short side. Just to say this again, I cannot stress this enough NOT A PAIRING FIC! NOPE! NOT GONNA HAPPEN! Whatever love you _**thought**_ you saw in this chapter has a deeper meaning to it than what you think. Helga doesn't love Arnold in a romantic way! Nope nope nope nah uhuh naw and heck no. As always one more time for the challenged NOPE! I'll sing it from the roof tops if I have to.

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